Leo Potter and the Hogwarts Heirs
by SugarQuill1
Summary: Leo Potter (Harry's Grandpa) goes to school w/ Hagrid and Riddle. He finds out something about the Hogwarts Heirs but can he find out what it means in time? Plz read and review!
1. Day One: The dream, the train, and the s...

A/N Okay, this is about James' dad (Harry's grandfather) and how he goes to school with Tom Riddle and Hagrid (I'll get there eventually) and he experiences the whole thing from his POV (point of view). Anyway, I hope you enjoy, please read and review!

D/C Nope, as far as I know, I still don't own any of the HP characters. If you get any news that I do, please tell me right away so I can stop writing these annoying disclaimers! Ha ha… okay, sorry, so humor's not my thing…

Enjoy!

***Karen*** 

*****

A blonde, messy-haired man, accompanied by a black-haired woman with sparkling green eyes, drove through a rainy street.

"Hurry! Can't you go any faster? C'mon, Sean! Hurry Up!"

"I'm going as fast as I can, Jes, do you want us to get pulled over?"

"Oh, for God's sake, tell me again. Why didn't we just apparate to St. Mungo's?"

"I told you, honey, I checked! Every room is full! They're doing reconstruction or something."

Just then, the bumpy blue truck pulled into the emergency entrance of the small hospital. The man quickly got out of the car and opened the back door to help his rather round wife out of the car. He helped her through the electric sliding doors into the very plain-looking lobby. 

"Can anyone help us?" the man shouted frantically.

"Please sit down, sir. We will help you and your wife in a moment," stated the pompous nurse.

The man leapt away just as something came splashing down on his foot. "My Wife's About To Have A Baby!" he screamed at her, "HELP HER!"

Minutes later, they were in a bland little room and the man, Sean, was helping his wife into a blue and white hospital gown. The doctor walked in and Jessica lay down on the bed. 

"Now, Mrs…"

"Potter," the woman hastily replied.

"Yes, Mrs. Potter. I want you to breathe real deep and push when I tell you to push, okay?"

The struggling woman on the bed threw him a lopsided smile and nodded her head.

"Push!"

The woman screamed in agony as she tried to get the baby out. After what seemed like days, out came a little boy, green-eyed and black-haired. Instead of crying, the baby boy looked up at his mother and gurgled, smiling. The woman, almost dead with exhaustion and pain, tried to take the baby. The doctor smiled and set it down on her lap. As she played with his hands, the blonde man stepped forward with tears in his eyes and said, "What're we gonna call him?"

"My bold little lion," she smiled weakly. And just before collapsing into eternal sleep, she whispered, "My little boy. We'll call him…"

***

"_Len-erd!" _Leonard Potter awoke to the sound of his step-mother's voice. 

"Coming!" he yelled back, before stuffing a pillow over his head. Now what had the woman said? Leonard closed his eyes, but the dream was slowly slipping away from him.

"I have to leave in fifteen minutes! If you're not ready by then, you're walking to King's Cross!" Leonard hastily got up. After time, Leonard had learned to take his step-mother's threats seriously. He walked into his bathroom and looked in his mirror. A boy with bright green eyes and uncontrollable black hair looked awkwardly back at him. He quickly undressed and hopped in the shower. He heard a toilet flush and jumped away just in time as the warm water quickly turned boiling hot. 

"Yeowch!" he yelled when he realized that his foot came out too late. He turned off the water and picked out a pair of blue jeans and a bottle-green tee shirt to wear. He pulled on a pair of socks and shoes and ran a comb through his hair, which came right back to it's original position. He sighed and got up from the chair he was sitting in.

"Leonard, what are you doing?" the brown-haired, black-eyed woman snapped when a series of thumps filled the house. She looked up to see Leonard dragging a huge trunk down the stairs. "Don't drag it! Pick it up, boy!" Leonard attempted to lift his trunk, only resulting in his sliding, with his trunk, all the way down the stairs.

"Hold on, just a minute," he said as he dashed back up the stairs, rubbing his butt. The woman gave him a glare that would make most people pee in their pants (and when Leonard was a small child, did) and turned back to her newspaper, sipping her tea. Leonard came rushing back down, carrying a large cage holding a white and brown speckled owl. The woman looked at it, nonplused. 

"Where did you get that?" she said, staring. 

"Dad gave it to me," he replied smiling widely.

"But what on Earth _for_?" she stammered back, "Oh, yes, your _mail_." That word she spat at Leonard and he flinched. "Speaking of presents, your father left this for you," she said, looking as if she was wondering why anyone that horrible deserved a present. She handed him a gift-wrapped package. He took it, deciding not to open it until he was far away from _her_. 

"Thanks, Pansy," he drawled, unable to hold in his hatred.

"You will address me as step-mother or _ma'am_," she snapped back, "Now get your things in the car. Your father has… enlarged the trunk." Pansy Potter opened the door, walked out and slammed it in Leonard's face. Leonard gathered up his things and sighed. "Here we go again." 

***

He opened up the trunk and set his things inside. His stepmother looked at him irritably. He jumped in the back seat of the car, hoping to avoid any unnecessary conversation. But, of course, "Leonard! Get up here! I'm not your chauffeur!" Leonard looked desperately back at the back seat as he shut the door and climbed in front. They rode in silence for quite some time until his stepmother attempted conversation. 

"Well, what do you think you're going to do there?" she asked dangerously.

Leonard picked his words carefully. "Make some new friends, study, and hopefully learn a lot," he said hesitantly looking up.

"Like anything could get through that thick head of yours," she replied, "but anyway, you stay out of trouble, or I'll have your head!"

Lucky for Leonard, the car was just pulling up at the station.

"Yeah,wellIgottago.Bye!" he said, slamming the door in his hurry. He threw open the trunk, gathered his belongings and raced for the station. His stepmother didn't even say a goodbye as he hurried through the crowded platforms. Actually, she drove away, saying something to herself about her "different" stepchild. In fact, this time, she was right. Leonard Potter was a wizard.

Meanwhile, Leonard found the section between platforms nine and ten and started running towards it, hoping that his dad wasn't just joking about how to get on to platform nine and three quarters. He closed his eyes, but after nothing happened, he opened then to find a humungous scarlet steam engine towering above him. He raced on and threw his stuff in an empty compartment near the back of the train. 

He sat down, breathing heavily from his dash at the station. He was about to fall asleep when the compartment door opened to reveal a short, pale, girl with limp brown hair (tied up in a messy bun) and a dazzling smile. 

She came over to him and said, "Hi. Do you mind if I sit here? This is my first year and I can't seem to find an empty compartment. I was going to get here early, but-" 

Leonard cut her off. "Sure, I'm a first year too. Leonard Potter. You can call me Leo," he said, trying to sound cool. 

"Thanks. Jennifer Rowling. _(A/N In honor of J.K., of course.)_ I've heard all about this school from my mom and dad. They went here when they were kids. My dad's really nice, but my mom's kinda crabby. I ever so dearly want to play on the quidditch team. What house do you think you're going to be in? My mom was in Hufflepuff, but my dad was in Gryffindor. What did you say?" She said this all very fast.

"My stepmom's a muggle and my dad was in Gryffindor," he said. Hopefully this girl would find some other company… soon!

Just when Jennifer was starting to speak again, a short boy walked into the compartment and sat down next to Jennifer.

"Hey. I'm Thomas Skats. This is my next-door-neighbor, Jennifer. Hope she hasn't been abusing you too much," said the boy, extending his hand. Leo grabbed it and shook it.

"Leo Potter. Nice to meet you. No, she's been quite… interesting," he said, smiling back at the boy, laughter dancing in his eyes.

A few more people joined their compartment, but Leo was too busy talking to notice everyone. After a few minutes, Jennifer sighed and walked away.

"Finally!" said Thomas, "I'd thought she'd never go away!"

"She talks a mile-a-minute!" commented Leo.

They talked the rest of the way to the castle, only stopping to change into their school robes.

"…And so I reached into her pocket and…Leo? Lee-oh. Earth to Leo," he said, waving his hand in Leo's face. 

"Whahumadahada?" he asked. His friend looked at him strangely. "Sorry, what did you say?" 

"Uhhhg! What were you doing, daydreaming?" Tom answered, rather perturbed.

"Just zoned off for a minute. Sorry," Leo replied, stating the obvious.

"Oh well, never mind. We should pull in any minute anyway," Tom said. Leo stood up and stretched.

"Good idea," said Tom, getting up too. Jennifer looked up and gave them a grossed-out look when Leo's knee popped. Leo smiled sheepishly. Tom rolled his eyes and playfully pushed his friend. Leo looked over and grinned at him before toppling over backwards. The train had stopped suddenly, sending Jennifer and Leo into the isle. Leo grabbed his stuff and followed Tom to the exit.

"Well, here goes nothing," he said and stepped off the train. 

*****

And ran headfirst into a very large man.

"Ooof! Sorry!" he stammered. _Great, he thought. Good first impression._

"No problem," said the man. His voice sounded young, although he had to be at least 40 to be that big. He turned around to face Leo and Leo gasped. The man was not a man at all. He was a boy. 

"Hagrid," said the boy, sticking out a gigantic hand, "Rubeus Hagrid."

"Um, well, hi," said Leo. He was afraid to put out his hand in favor of it being crushed, yet even more afraid to have this guy as his enemy. Eventually, he stuck out his hand. "Leo Potter, at your service," he said kindly. The boy gave him a huge smile, and Leo could tell that he was not the dangerous type. 

Tom looked back from the crowd. "This way, Leo. Follow the wand!" A very small, frail man was holding up a wand that was shooting out blue sparks. He was motioning for the first years to follow him. He led them all out to a dock where they all got their first glimpse of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. There were 'Oohs' and 'Ahhs' all around when the thin man got their attention. "Everyone in a boat!" he said. It was just then that Leo realized he was at the edge of a gigantic lake with a cluster of small black boats floating near the shore. "Four to a boat!" the man shouted out. Leo sat down in a boat with Tom. They were soon joined by Jennifer and then the very large boy asked if he could sit with them.

"Ummm, sure, Hagrid," said Leo, still afraid of the gigantic boy. Hagrid squeezed in between Tom and Leo, and, to Leo's relief, the boats started to move smoothly. When they reached the shore, Leo and Tom climbed out of the boat and ran up ahead of the other two. 

"Did you see that guy?" Tom said, eyes large, "I'm surprised he didn't sink the boat!"

"Yeah, I know," Leo replied, "I thought he was a teacher at first. A really _big_ teacher at that."

They followed the river of students down to two huge oak doors. They went past them, however, and stopped near a set of small doors. They waited to get in for a time and when they finally did they were awestruck. The ceilings were gigantic and the walls were decorated beautifully with moving paintings and decorative color-changing streamers. Leo looked every which-way, trying to take in all the different sights at once. 

"Will you take a look at this place!" Leo said to Tom, who was too busy looking at a photograph of a young mermaid to hear him. "It's even better from the inside!" Tom nodded his head, although his thoughts were with the mermaid that was winking at him from her spot in the picture. "And I found dinosaur bones in my backyard," Leo went on amusedly, "And Thomas Skats is a brainless git," Leo finished, smiling. 

"Hey! What are you on about?" said Tom, who had finally diverted his attention from the portrait. Leo laughed and shrugged his shoulders, "Don't know what you're talking about my good fellow." Just then, there was a loud slamming and a young man with blue sparkling eyes entered the room. 

"Hello everyone. My name is Professor Albus Dumbledore, and I will be your transfiguration teacher this year," he said jovially, "The sorting will begin in approximately five minutes. I will ask you all to line up in a single file line and get ready to enter the Great Hall." 

"What're we gonna do in the other four minutes?" someone yelled from the crowd.

"I think you will see that it will take a while to get all lined up," replied the professor, and with that, he left.

It turned out that he was right. There was a lot of pushing and shoving involved and one time, Leo tripped. He could have sworn that someone had stuck their foot out but he shrugged and went on. 

When they were all lined up, the auburn-haired professor came back in and led them through a tall door into the front of a gigantic hall. There were five tables, students occupying four of them, and the staff at one. Never-melting candles hung magically suspended about two feet above the tables. Leo looked up and found that there was no roof, although he didn't feel any wind. 

Tom saw where he was looking and leaned over. "The ceiling's enchanted to look like the sky outside," he whispered. Leo recalled something that his dad had said about that. "Read it in Hogwarts, A History," said the small boy. Leo sighed. No one but Tom would say, 'Hogwarts, A History'. (A/N Instead of A History of Hogwarts) "The book must be a million years old," he said, "They should get new copies."

Leo turned his attention back to the middle of the large stage they were standing on. The transfiguration teacher had stood up and placed a new-looking stool in the middle of the stage. He then brought out a fairly battered hat and put it atop the stool. 

"This is the Hogwarts Sorting Hat," said the grinning professor, "Each one of you will try it on. It will choose the house that you will be in." Leo sighed. 

"Dad wouldn't tell me how they sorted you," he began, "I thought it was going to be some sort of-" 

"Shhhh!" Tom cut him off, "It's starting!" 

The hat had opened its flap and began to sing.

__

I'm the Hogwarts Sorting Hat,

I'll find out who you are,

I'll search through your brain,

And then I'll proclaim,

With my flap ajar,

Where you are to remain, 

You could be in Slytherin, 

Where all the kids will strive,

Or Hufflepuff is where you'll begin,

Where good harts are always alive,

Gryffindor could be your place,

Where everyone is brave and true,

Or is Ravenclaw on your face,

Where all the minds are fresh and new,

So put me on!

Don't be afraid,

And do not go astray,

For I'll find you a house,

A good one, too,

The house in which you will stay

(A/N Sorry, I'm no good at poetry)

The hall erupted with cheers and almost all of the students stood up. Leo clapped a little bit too. He was very excited, yet pretty nervous, too. The professor that had talked to them before walked out and unraveled a scroll.

"When I say your name, will you please step out and put on the sorting hat," the professor said. Leo heard the teacher boom out a name and a small, pale girl walked confidently forward and put the hat on her head. A second later, it bellowed, "SLYTHERIN!"

The girl walked up to the Slytherin table and sat down. The Slytherins were banging their goblets on their tables and cheering. Leo thought they looked a sickening sight. From what he heard from his father and others, he was pretty sure that wasn't the house for him. 

The only other person he recognized was Rubeus Hagrid, who became a Gryffindor.

Leo fidgeted nervously until he saw the boy next to him walk forward. 

The next second, it seemed, Leo heard Professor Dumbledore's voice bellow, "Potter, Leonard."

Leo stepped forward and headed towards the stool. He sat down and put on the hat. It hadn't even t gotten it on, it seemed, when the hat shouted, "GRYFFINDOR!" There was various applause from the Gryffindor table and Leo sat down next to a tall redheaded boy to watch the rest of the sorting. 

"Quinn, Marcus!" became a Ravenclaw and the next boy began to step forward.

"Riley, Matt!" bellowed Dumbledore. The boy stepped forward and put on the hat. A few seconds later it shouted, "GRYFFINDOR!" Leo applauded as the large black boy sat down next to him and started making conversation. Leo talked until Tom was up. He walked bravely forward and plunked the hat on his head. It seemed like forever until the hat finally shouted, "GRYFFINDOR!" Leo made room next to him to allow space for Tom. They talked for a while and only looked up when new Gryffindors were announced. That happened only two times, one being to allow in Jennifer Rowling. She sat down across from them and both of the boys groaned. She shoved Leo in the shoulder and smiled. 

When the sorting was over, a small frail man stood up from his spot at the staff table. 

"Good evening ladies and gentlemen," he began, "Welcome back to Hogwarts! I am, for those of you who don't know me, the headmaster. But you may call me Professor Dippet. Or Professor D," he smiled at two what looked like second year boys sitting two seats down from Leo at the Gryffindor table, "whichever you prefer," he continued, "Just a few rules and regulations to go through. No one is allowed in the Forbidden Forest. Also-" the headmaster continued, but Leo didn't hear him. He was too busy being distracted by the two boys that the professor had smiled at. They were holding up hand-made sock puppets. One looked like a mean professor in black robes and the other looked strangely like Professor Dippet. Leo adverted his attention long enough to catch the last of the headmaster's speech. "And all students below third year must get these permission forms signed in order to try out for the house Quidditch team. Now, after that said, enjoy your meal!" He smiled broadly as tons and tons of food appeared right before their eyes. 

"Hallelujah!" shouted Leo, "Pass the potatoes, Tom."

Tom was looking at the table, dumbstruck. "My mom never told me about _this_!" he exclaimed and started loading his plate with everything in sight. Leo chuckled, forgetting about the potatoes, and started serving himself. 

After a joyously long meal, the food disappeared and the headmaster stood up again. "Will all prefects please lead your houses to their dormitories." It was more of a statement that a question. All the prefects stood up and led their groups out. Gryffindor was the last to leave. They followed a bunch of Ravenclaws for a while, but soon departed them. Leo was trying furiously to remember the way to their dormitory. He was a very forgetful person. 

When they finally arrived, one of the prefects shouted, "Jell-O!" A humungous portrait of a very large lady swung forward to reveal a very warm and cozy room containing three cushy chairs and two sofas. The prefect explained where everything was, and Leo headed up the stairway to his dormitory. He found five four-poster beds set inside of a large room lit by muggle lanterns hanging over each bed. There was a mirror and a clock in the middle of the room. Leo found his things easily and went over to his bed. He lay down and in two seconds, he was asleep.


	2. Day Two: 'Greeting's, classes, jokes, a...

Leo woke up the next day and rolled out of bed. He stumbled over to his bedroom wall to turn on the light, only to find… 

"Graaaa! What do you think you're doing?" said Tom, jumping out of his four-poster.

"Tom!" shouted Leo, "You're here! YES! Yes, yes, yes ,yes, YES!"

"Hey man, I think you need a Nyquil or something 'cause you're-"

"Sorry," said Leo in reply, "I just thought, maybe, you were a dream, I mean, this whole thing-"

"Whatever. Just, lay off the face, okay?"

"Gotcha." Leo grinned and pulled his body from the tangle of covers he had managed to get himself into.

"Let's go down," said Tom, patting his stomach, "Been hungry since… well, since last night, I guess." 

Leo chortled and stood up, now cover-free, and turned to the large mirror by the door. He flattened his hair with his hand and then turned around to get his robes. He was just lifting the lid when he saw – "Oy! Tom! Over here!"

"Shhhh!" said Tom, pointing at the three other sleeping bodies, "Whaddaya want?"

"I forgot," Leo whispered back in reply, "My dad gave this to me."

"Well, what is it?" said Tom, rather annoyed.

"I dunno… yet." Leo pulled out the silver wrapped package. He slowly started to take off the outer paper, making sure not to rip the outside.

"Oh for God's sake, open it!" said Tom, grabbing for the package and roughly forcing off the paper. He threw it aside to reveal a medium sized silver box. Leo looked at it.

"Sure likes silver, doesn't he?" Tom commented.

"Guess so," said Leo, looking back down at the box. He reached out and took off the lid. Tom and Leo gasped in unison. 

"An invisibility cloak!" shouted Leo, pulling out the fluid, silvery cloak from its box. 

"Look, a note!" said Tom, picking up a small piece of parchment from the cold stone floor. Leo took the message from Tom and sat down on his bed. 

"C'mon, read it!" urged Tom, leaning closer.  
_Dear Leo –_

I hope you are having a wonderful time at school and I'm sorry I couldn't see you off. Don't forget, you can send me lots of letters with your new owl if you want to contact me. On to your gift - this cloak has been passed down from generation to generation. Use it well, and when the time comes, maybe you could pass it on to your son, just as I have passed it on to you. Enjoy your year, and I hope to see you this Christmas! 

All my Love,

Dad

PS: I don't want to receive a letter from Professor Dippet saying you've been on midnight excursions. Mind yourself! 

Leo grinned and said, "Just like dad… 'I love you, but don't get into trouble!'" Tom laughed and fell back on his bed.

"Man, your dad is _so cool_ !" he said, "Wish my dad'd trust me like that."

"Yeah.." said Leo in reply. He reached down and picked up the cloak again. He was just about to try it on, when-

"What're yuh doin'?" came a gruff voice from the corner, "Wait, isn't that one o' them-"

"Shhhh!" said Tom and Leo in unison.

"Wha- what's going on?" said Matt, whom Leo had talked to the night before.

"Who's been shot?" said another boy, almost jumping out of bed. The other boys laughed and Leo used this time to shove the cloak under his bed.

"Sorry," said the first boy sheepishly, "I'm Sean, Sean Garrington. Who're you?" He was looking at Leo and Thomas.

"Thomas Skats," said Tom, shaking Sean's hand, "and this is my friend, Leo."

"Much obliged," said Leo, doing a fake little bow and holding out his hand curtly. Sean took it uncertainly and Leo broke out into a grin. Sean finally got the joke and smiled back at him, his hand loosening.

"Not to interrupt this nice little get-together, but-"

"Too late," Leo butted in, grinning at his best friend.

"Oh, let's just get some breakfast," said Tom, trying to push Leo out the door.

"Hey Tom!" Matt yelled after him.

"What," he yelled back, "This had better be importan-"

"Forget something?" said Matt, raising his eyebrows at Tom.

"Like clothes?" finished Sean. Tom was still in his PJs. 

"Oh, yeah, right," said Tom, blushing furiously and rushing back up to the dormitory. Leo chuckled as they all changed into their school robes. They trooped down through the almost empty common room and headed toward the great hall. After three locked doors, two trick steps, five wrong turns, and an encounter with the school poltergeist, Peeves, the bedraggled looking group tromped into the great hall. Tom tripped on the hem of his robes rushing over to the table. Everyone in the great hall started laughing and Leo went over to help him up. Tom had gotten himself up, however, and was bowing his way to his table, under the tumultuous applause of the smiling great hall. Leo laughed and sat down next to him. 

"Smooth move, Romeo," he said, as Tom stood up to take one more bow. Tom chuckled and plopped back down. 

"Thanks," he said, running his hands through his golden brown hair, making his hat fall off. "Oops. Forgot I had it on," he said, and shoved it back on his head. 

Leo laughed. He probably had the most popular friend in the whole school, smart, funny, and nice, Tom was an all out chick magnet. And just to prove his theory-

"Hey Tom! Can I sit here?" Jennifer Rowling had sat herself down next to Tom before he could answer. If only Leo could act like Tom, he would have all the good-looking girls. But he wasn't that bad, Leo thought to himself. 

"Hey Leo, what's up?" a pretty third year had sat down next to him. "I'm Breanne Donner. You can call me Bre." (A/N: Told u I'd add u in there! Miss ya Brittany!!)

"Hey, um…" Leo was saved as Bre started talking to Jennifer. He missed the first part but heard them finish up their conversation.

"So, we'll switch. Thursday night, okay?"

"Okay." The third year went down the table to sit by some other friends.

"That was amazingly weird," Leo said to Tom.

"More like amazingly cool," said Tom, "Did you see that girl? She was totally digging you."

"No way," thought Leo aloud, "Really?" Tom looked at him, exasperated, and went back to his muffin.

***

"First up, Transfiguration with Professor Albus Dumbledore," read Tom off a little sheet of paper that was his schedule, "What do you have?"

"Same," said Leo, grinning up at his friend. "How should we 'greet' the new teacher?"

"Oh, maybe opening up his bag and putting it upside down… What do you think?" Tom smiled.

"And all of his quills will fall out when he picks it up? Brilliant! Bloody brilliant! How do you come up with this stuff?" Leo asked, looking awestruck at Tom.

"It's a gift," said Tom, struggling to open a locked door, "Oh, wait, stand back. Alohomora!" There was a small clicking sound and the door swung open.

"How did you do that?" said Leo, looking more impressed by the minute.

"Oh, you know, was looking through my charms book a little early and I found it. Looked useful, so I practiced over half the summer. I think it turned out good, don't you?" They were about to enter the door when Jennifer Rowling came running up to Tom. 

"Hey Tom, do you wanna come to the quidditch game with me a week from Thursday?"

"Oh! Well, okay. Sure."

"Okay then… see ya." Jennifer sauntered away, hands clasped in front of her.

"Whhheeet whoooo!" Leo whistled when she had finally left. "First day of classes and you already have a date! Go Tom!" They high fived and started heading towards the door.

"I actually kinda liked that girl that was talking to you this morning, but-"

"And where, may I ask, are you going?" A blonde haired professor approached them, robes billowing out behind him. 

"Going to Transfiguration, professor… er, professor…" Leo glanced back down at his schedule.

"Malfoy. And Transfiguration is that way," he pointed down the corridor they had just been down, "and five points from your house for your stupidity." 

"But we were just there- ouch!" Tom yelled when Leo stepped on his foot. The teacher glared at them and stormed away. 

"I don't think he's the teacher to argue with," said Leo quietly. "What does he teach? Hopefully not our class."

Tom looked back down at his schedule. "Professor Jadart Malfoy, Arithmancy. Well, that's one class I'm not taking."

"Ditto," said Leo, starting to head down the corridor. Tom quickly caught up to Leo and they started chatting, waiting for the Transfiguration room to suddenly appear. In fact, if it weren't for Jennifer Rowling, the two probably would have missed it completely. While they were on the ever-so-popular subject of quidditch, Jennifer stuck her head out of the Transfiguration door and yelled, "Hey Leo! Tom! Going down to the dungeons?" 

"No we're going to transfiguration, stupid," Leo called behind his shoulder. After about two seconds they both stopped, realized where they were going, and turned back towards Jennifer. Leo's cheeks were burning and he hung his head when he stepped into the classroom.

Inside he found many rows of desks and all of his first year classmates. 

"Ah, welcome Mister Skats, Mister Potter," said a man up in front with auburn hair and a beard down to his shoulders, "So glad you could join us." His bright blue eyes twinkled and followed them around until they found a pair of desks right next to each other. 

"Now, we will begin our lesson by-" There was a knock on the classroom door. 

"Albus, I need to speak with you for a moment," said a voice through the cracked open door.

"Okay. Class, hold on a moment, and I'll be right back." Dumbledore left the room and Leo and Tom grinned at each other as the teacher's footsteps echoed down the hallway.

"Now?"

"Now."

They both got up out of their seats and ran towards the teacher's desk. Leo quickly found his bag and put it upside down, with the strap still sticking up. Tom adjusted it. The class was smiling at them as they walked swiftly back to their seats. 

Jennifer looked at them speculatingly. She made eye contact with Leo, blushed, and turned around in her seat. Just then the professor walked in.

"So, shall we continue?" he asked, "Everyone take out their quills and let's begin." He reached toward his bag and Leo and Tom simultaneously let out a throaty laugh. "Is there something amusing you, boys?"

"No, sir, nothing at all," Leo said, trying to hold in a laugh.

"Well let's get on with it!" And with that, the professor grabbed his bag, spilling all his things, including the many colored ink bottles. Leo and Tom let loose. By the time the professor had gathered his things, they were on the floor, rolling around and getting high fives from the classmates. 

Surprisingly, the teacher smiled. His eyes twinkled as he looked from one boy to another. They got off the floor and scurried back to their seats. 

"Well, it seems like I have been greeted by the welcoming party! I must say, this is one of the better pranks I have seen this year."

Leo looked at him in amazement, and Tom laughed a little, clapping his hands together. They looked at each other in wide-eyed astonishment. Leo's of disbelief that the teacher was taking it so well and Tom's in disbelief that they weren't having their butts whipped on the spot. The professor got up and continued to teach the class as if nothing had happened.

After it was over, Leo and Tom raced to the hallway. 

"Did you see him? He didn't even care! And it was like he enjoyed seeing the pranks pulled? HE'S AWESOME!"

"I KNOW! I mean, he didn't even punish us or anything! He is THE neatest teacher I've ever had!"

Leo had done it. Instant popularity. He walked through the corridors, slapping hands and talking to people he'd never even met. 

__

Man, he thought_ I could get used to this!_

****

***

After his grueling day of classes, Leo headed down to the Great Hall for dinner. When they opened the doors, the Gryffindors all stood up and applauded, soon joined by a few others. A precious few had dared to pull a prank on a teacher in many a year, and the pair of tricksters had become sort of celebrities. Tom laughed, put his hands up in the air, and started to do the "Queen of England Wave". Leo laughed at Tom, put _his_ hands up in the air, and attempted a cartwheel, only in the result of him bruising his butt. The whole hall burst out into laughter and Leo grinned, getting a hands-up from Tom and bowed to the hall, soon joined by his best friend. When the applause died down, they headed for their 'usual' spots at the table.

"Smooth move, Romeo," Tom laughed, quoting his best friend.

"Ha ha," Leo replied, "That line's so original, Tom. Where ever did you come up with it?" 

"Oh you know, just here and there. I'm a genius, haven't you heard?"

"Riiiiiiiiight…" Leo laughingly came back, "So what's for lunch?"

"Same as every night, dufus, _everything_. Man, seriously, they have _the best_ roast beef…"

As Tom went on with his ramblings about the school food, Leo caught a glance at Jennifer. He was suddenly filled with resentment for his best friend. Why was _he_ going out with her? Why couldn't someone like _Leo_ catch the eye of a pretty girl? Tom _knew_ he liked her. Why couldn't he just back off? Well, he didn't exactly tell him, but Tom should know. Leo cast an angered look at Tom.

"What?" 

"You should know!" said Leo heatedly, getting up from the table and stalking out of the Great Hall. 

"What?" said Tom at all the people staring at him. After about five seconds he got up and followed his friend, or supposed friend, out the hall and into the corridor. "Leo, what's wrong?" he said to Leo, who was sitting on the steps with his head in his hands.

"I'm sorry… I just… I think I…"

"You think you what? C'mon, you can tell me."

"Well, I kinda have a thing for Jennifer, and since you're kinda going-"

"Oh! Well if that's all it is… no prob. I can cancel the date."

"No, that's okay, go ahead."

"But if you want me to-"

"No… I didn't tell you this before, but that third year, you know, Bre?"

"Yeah…"

"Well, she asked me to the quidditch game too. She's going with some friends, including Jennifer. Obviously they know each other, and I think it would be a little weird, so… I don't think I'm going to go…"

"What? Not go? She's a _third year_. I would die to go with someone like that. Not that I don't mind some of the first years…" said Tom with a coy look on his face.

"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" said Leo.

"We'll switch!" the boys shouted together.

"I can't wait till Thursday," Leo said smiling.

"C'mon, let's go back and eat some more food," said Tom looking longingly back at the Great Hall, whose tables were now filled with all sorts of desserts and goodies.

Leo laughed. "All right Tom, let's go."

The two boys took their seats back at the table. Leo lifted his goblet up and shouted, "To Thursday!"

"To Thursday!" Tom said as they clinked their glasses in the air. Both boys smiled. They couldn't wait.


End file.
